ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Delhi Aadi Mahotsav to be organised at Dilli Haat between 16th to 30th November, 2019
The Delhi Aadi Mahotsav will be organised at Dilli Haat, INA, New Delhi between 16th to 30th November, 2019. The inaugural ceremony will be graced by the Union Minister for Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah as Chief Guest and the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda will preside. The Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta will be the Guest of Honour. This was announced by Shri Pravin Krishna, MD, TRIFED at a press conference here today.
The theme of the festival is “a Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Crafts, Culture and Commerce”, which represents the basic ethos of tribal life. The festival, will feature exhibition-cum-sale of tribal handicrafts, art, paintings, fabric, jewellery and much more through 200 stalls to showcase this.
Over 1000 tribal artisans and artists from 27 States will be participating in the festival. The event will be marked by mesmerizing performances and cultural shows, showcasing the products of tribal artisans based on the tribal rituals, harvest, festivals, martial art forms etc., from 20 States of the country. The performances from different States shall be showcasing rich tribal cultural diversity like never-seen-before during the course of the event.
The concept of organising Aadi Mahotsav in major cities has proved to be a boon for tribal artisans by eliminating the middle man and providing direct access to large markets, otherwise impossible to reach for them. In line with the national aspiration to go cashless, the tribal merchandise stalls will be accepting payment through major credit/debit cards.
26 such festivals are planned to be organised during the current financial year. Out of which, 8 festivals have been already organised at Shimla, Ooty, Leh-Ladakh, Visakhapatnam, Noida, Indore, Pune and Bhubaneswar wherein about 900 tribal artisans participated and realized sales of more than Rs. 5 crore.
TRIFED an organisation of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India has started a new concept of organsing “Aadi Mahotsav – National Tribal Festival” to provide direct market access to the tribal master-craftsmen and women in large metros and State capitals.
Apart from handloom and handicrafts, TRIFED also promotes processing and value addition of forest produces through the Prime Minister Van Dhan Yojana, as a special scheme to promote tribal enterprise. Till date, starting from 27th August, 2019 under the 100 day Action Plan of the Government of India, 662 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras have already been set up in 17 States promoting 2 lakh tribals. A special initiative that has been launched for promoting Van Dhan for Specially-Abled tribal gatherers and artisans TRIFED proposes to set up atleast 150 such kendras in the country in the coming five months involving 45000 tribal specially abled tribal artisans.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
MSP Operations during Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21
Paddy Procurement shows increase of 27.13 % over the last year
About 67.89 Lakh Paddy Farmers have benefitted from KMS Procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs 98456.80 Crore
In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season  2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per existing MSP Schemes.
Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal with purchase of over 521.48 LMTs of paddy up to 06.01.2021.This is an increase of 27.13 % against the last year corresponding purchase of 410.18 LMT. Out of the total purchase of 521.48 LMT, Punjab alone has contributed 202.77 LMT which is 38.88 % of total procurement.
About 67.89 Lac farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs 98456.80 Crore.
Further, based on the proposal from the States, approval was accorded for procurement of 51.66 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds of Kharif Marketing Season 2020 for the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme . Further, sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra  for the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given. For other States/UTs, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for procurement of Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective States/UTs by the Central Nodal Agencies through State nominated procuring agencies.
Upto 06.01.2021, the Government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 278059.62 MT of Moong, Urad, Groundnut Pods and Soyabean having MSP value of Rs.1487.65 Crores benefitting 148555 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Similarly, 5089 MT of copra  having MSP value of Rs.52.40 crore has been procured benefitting 3961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu upto 06.01.2021as against the last year corresponding purchase of 293.34 MT of copra. In respect of Copra and Urad, rates are ruling above MSP in most of the major producing States. The respective State/UTs Governments are making necessary arrangements for commencement of procurement from the date as decided by the respective States based on the arrivals in respect of Kharif Pulses and Oilseeds.
Procurement operations of seed cotton  under MSP are going on smoothly in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka. Till 06.01.2021 a quantity of 8026401 cotton bales valuing Rs.23485.05 Crore has been procured benefitting 1559429 farmers.
Ministry of Education
IIT Kharagpur collaborates with AWS to develop a National AI Resource Platform 
Kolkata, August 30, 2019.
IIT Kharagpur today announced that it will collaborate with Amazon Web Services, Inc. , an Amazon.com company, to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal  platform powered by Amazon SageMaker to promote learning and development in Artificial Intelligence  for all AI learners, practitioners, and researchers in India, and to make the search for AI learning resources simpler and more accessible.
IIT Kharagpur will use AWS Promotional Credits and Amazon SageMaker services to facilitate AI learning.
NAIRP will provide access to compute facilities to users for AI learning and experimentation. Novice machine learning practitioners will be able to quickly search and get access to myriads of learning resources, and prototype the learned concepts into hands-on running modules without being held back by the lack of resources. In addition to this, the opportunity for joint research will facilitate participation of students and researchers in contributing to open source educational resources and workbook development for AI-related tasks.
NAIRP was launched with initial funding from Ministry of Human Resources Development, as part of the National Digital Library of India  platform. NAIRP builds upon and expands NDLI to AI by indexing a wide variety of AI-specific resources such as learning materials, courses, workbooks, datasets, codes, tools and platforms.
The National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal will provide search, browse, learning and computation services.
Prime Minister's Office
PM shares glimpses of Sabarmati river from the newly flagged off Ahmedabad Metro
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has shared a tweet by an IAS officer M Nagarajan featuring glimpses of the Sabarmati river from the newly flagged off Ahmedabad Metro.
Quoting a tweet by an IAS officer M Nagarajan, the Prime Minister tweeted;
“A big day for Ahmedabad.”
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
National Level ‘Business Meet’ by CPWD on December 12, 2019
To share and familiarize important activities and achievements of the Department, CPWD is organizing a Business Meet with the Clients andstakeholders as part of Confidence Building Measure and to get their viewsabout the Services provided by CPWD. In the proposed ‘Business Meet’, CPWD intendsto showcase a rejuvenated CPWD through a process of all-inclusiveness andwider consultations.
CPWD being a Principal Engineering Organization of Govt. of India caters toinfrastructure requirement of most of the Government Ministries, Departments,Public Sector Undertakings and Autonomous Bodies. CPWD earnestly strivesto provide best services to its esteemed Clients and Stakeholders.
CPWD in its endeavour to provide its best services to the Clients, has taken severalradical measures in the recent past. Functioning of CPWD has revamped withimproved Client satisfaction, speedy delivery of projects adhering to time lineswith quality and economy. CPWD has also adopted innovative and moderntechnologies in its construction with emphasis on green, energy efficient andeco-friendly and sustainable features.
Interaction with esteemed Clients and stakeholders during the meet shallenhance the transparency and create sense of trust of the Clients in CPWD.Further, through the proposed Business Meet, CPWDis looking at an opportunity toshowcase their performance and benefits of getting their works executed throughCPWD. It will help CPWD in utilizing its technical work force to the optimalbesides increasing the turnover.
Prime Minister's Office
PM congratulates H. E. William S Ruto on being elected the President of Kenya
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated H. E. William S Ruto on being elected the President of Kenya.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
"Congratulations to @WilliamsRuto on being elected the President of Kenya. I look forward to working closely with him for strengthening our historic bilateral relations."
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 219.33 Cr
Over 4.11 Cr 1st dose vaccines administered for age group 12-14 years
India's Active caseload currently stands at 26,834
2,060 new cases reported in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently stands at 98.75%
Weekly Positivity Rate is presently at 1.02%
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 219.33 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today.
COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March, 2022. So far, more than 4.11 Cr  adolescents have been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Similarly, the COVID-19 precaution dose administration for age group 18-59 years also started from 10th April, 2022 onwards.
The break-up of the cumulative figure as per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
10415330
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
10120047
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
7058237
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
18437030
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
17718655
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
13720437
|
|
Age Group 12-14 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
41147585
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
32127377
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
61986688
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
53243367
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
561376594
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
516157426
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
99462901
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
204043629
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
197043851
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
50290967
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
127678175
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
123197737
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
48117618
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
21,86,50,160
|
|
Total
|
|
2,19,33,43,651
India’s Active Caseload currently stands at 26,834. Active cases now constitute 0.06% of the country's total Positive Cases.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.75%. 1,841 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients  is now at 4,40,75,149.
2,060 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
The last 24 hours saw a total of 1,10,863 COVID-19 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 89.86 Cr  cumulative tests.
Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 1.02% and the Daily Positivity rate is reported to be 1.86%.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Special electro-active nanoparticles developed for potential applications in touch & acoustic sensor
The scientists have achieved δ-phase in PVDF nanoparticles at lowest possible electric field till date --- 103 times lesser electric field than the conventional method. This makes the finding more convenient for application-based commercial technologies. This work has been published recently in the journal ‘Applied Physical Letters’.
“The new method not only provides an excellent way to induce the piezoelectric δ-phase in PVDF under lowest possible electrical field till date but also enables controlling the morphologies of the nanostructures in a single step process. So, this work would open up possibilities of use of nanotechnology in this field and would open more possibilities to explore further on the application of the delta phase, which was earlier stuck due to requirement of higher electric field. In addition, it was limited to only film-based samples. So, we would score it 10/10 in terms of novelty and existing technology that we proposed,” said Dr. Mandal.
The application-based possibilities were earlier due to the requirement of high electric field. Moreover, the applications were limited to film-based devices. The current findings go beyond this and explore this phase with the new processing technique at room temperature as well as different nanostructures fabrication of this phase.
As a proof of concept, the INST team has also shown a few applications in pressure mapping sensor, acoustic sensor, and as a piezoelectric energy harvester. A piezoelectric nanogenerator was also fabricated to demonstrate the application of piezoelectric properties of these nanoparticles, and its practical applications as pressure mapping sensor, acoustic sensor, and energy harvesting studies were performed.
The high acoustic sensitivity of the device also indicates the detection ability of acoustic noises, speech signals, respiration motion, thus widening its technological applicability. Besides this, the INST team also noticed anti-fibrillizing effect when the δ-phase comprising PVDF nanoparticles were utilized, which is very essential to protect the diseases like Alzheimer creating opportunities for emerging futuristic applications in the health care sector.
Publication details:
V. Gupta, A. Babu, S. K. Ghosh, Z. Mallick, H. K. Mishra, D Saini and D. Mandal, Revisiting δ-PVDF Based Piezoelectric Nanogenerator for Self-Powered Pressure Mapping Sensor, Appl. Phys. Lett. 2021, 119, 252902.
For more details, Dipankar Mandal  can be contacted.
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Cabinet
Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and Tajikistan on Cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Tajikistan on Cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy. The MoU was signed on 8th October, 2018.
Benefits:
The MoU will enable establishment of a basis for a cooperative institutional relationship between India and Tajikistan to encourage and promote bilateral technical cooperation in the field of new and renewable energy on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity. It will focus on development and deployment of new and renewable energy, and storage technologies. It will further cooperation between the two countries through exchange and training of scientific and technical personnel, exchange of scientific and technological information and data, organization of workshops, seminars and working groups, transfer of equipment, know-how and technology on non-commercial basis, development of joint research or technical projects on subjects of mutual interest; and other modalities as may be decided by the two countries.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Overhauling the Bureaucracy
In keeping with the principle of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’, the Government has taken several measures to reform bureaucracy. Issue of provisional appointment orders on receipt of duly filled attestation form and self declaration by candidates pending police verification of character and antecedents, streamlining the system of posting at senior levels with due regard to integrity and merit, strengthening performance appraisal system of civil servants, strengthening of vigilance system, amendment of All India Services  Rules to provide for specific ‘timeline’ for completing enquiry against officers of All India Service in a time bound manner and adequate safeguard against arbitrary suspension of All India Service  officers, discontinuation of interviews for lower level posts, removing dead-wood from bureaucracy , are some of the reforms made in the recent past.
Some prominent persons have been appointed earlier also on lateral entry basis to man specific assignments from time to time. This includes among others, appointment of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Shri Vijay Kelkar, ShriBimalJalan, Shri Shankar Acharya, ShriRakesh Mohan, ShriArvindVirmani, ShriArvindPanagariya, ShriArvind Subramanian, ShriVaidya Rajesh Kotecha, ShriParameswaranIyer, Shri Ram VinayShahi, Shri R. Ramanan and Dr. SekharBonu. No adverse effect on the morale of the civil servants has resulted from lateral recruitments.
NITI Ayog in its three year Action Agenda 2017-18 to 2019-20 has also highlighted that it is essential that specialists be inducted in to the system through lateral entry on fixed term contract. The Sectoral Group of Secretaries  submitted a report in February, 2017 in which it has inter alia been observed that there is shortage of officers at the Joint Secretary/Director/Deputy Secretary Level, due to reduction in recruitment in the Service during 1995-2002. Based on the recommendation of SGoS, Government has decided to undertake lateral recruitment of ten Joint Secretaries on contract basis in order to achieve the twin objectives of bringing in fresh talent as well as augment the availability of manpower.
The entry in Government run educational cadre at Assistant/Associate/Professor is open to all individuals who are fulfilling the required eligibility criteria independent of whether the person is currently within the educational institution or not.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State  Development of North-Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh in written reply to a question in LokSabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM appreciates use of 3D printing technology in construction of post office
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has appreciated the use of 3D printing technology in construction of post office in Bengaluru.
Sharing a tweet by Union Minister for Railways, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Prime Minister tweeted:
“Good to see new avenues of technology being harnessed for this purpose.”
Special Service and Features
National Institute of Technology Puducherry celebrates the 77th Independence Day
National Institute of Technology Puducherry has celebrated the 77th Independence Day on 15.08.2023. Dr. S. Sundaravarathan, Registrar, National Institute of Technology Puducherry hoisted the national flag, and addressed on behalf of the Director  and on my personal behalf I wish a Happy Independence Day to everyone here. Today we all gathered here for the 77th Independence Day Celebrations. On this day let us remember the dedication and sacrifices that our fore fathers have made for attaining our Independent India.
Today we are the largest populated as well largest democratic country in the world. Government of India is pushing its trajectory in various spheres of growth and aims to reach 5 trillion economy by 2025. Our strength is in our youth which constitutes 65% of our population. Today’s youth are more oriented towards Innovation and Start-Ups rather than job seekers. Further, he told, let us all in NIT Puducherry work towards the goal of our Nation and as the Motto of our G-20 summit says “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, though we are culturally and linguistically diverse let us all live unitedly as One Family, with one future to sustain our mother Earth for future generations.
A parade by the students and security personnel, and the cultural program by the students took place on this occasion. Faculty, staff and students of the institute have participated in the event and paid their respects to the freedom fighters. The program was started and ended with national anthem.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
197.46 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
India's Active caseload currently stands at 99,602
Active cases stand at 0.23%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.56%
11,574 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 4,28,08,666
14,506 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
86.19 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 4,33,659 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Ministry of Education
Centre constitutes Joint Review Mission for West Bengal to review the implementation of PM POSHAN Scheme
Ministry of Education has constituted a Joint Review Mission to visit the State of West Bengal to review the implementation of the centrally sponsored scheme, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  in the month of January, 2023. The Joint Review Mission comprises of members drawn from Nutrition experts, Officers from Government of India and the State Government. Terms of Reference is enclosed .
The JRM team reviews the implementation of the scheme at State, district and at school levels for a specified period of time on defined parameters.
Annexure -1
Terms of Reference for Joint Review Mission
- Review the fund flow from State to Schools/implementing agencies.
- Review the coverage of the Scheme
- Review the availability of Management Structure at State, District, Block level
- Review the delivery mechanism of food grains from State to Schools
- Review the smooth implementation of the Scheme with particular reference to Interruptions.
- Review the Creation of Capital Assets
- Construction of Kitchen-cum-stores
- Procurement/Replacement of Kitchen Devices
- Review the involvement of NGO’s/Trust/Centralized kitchens in the Scheme
- Review the payment of Cost of Food grains to Food Corporation of India
- Review the convening the meetings of District Level Committee under Chairpersonship of senior most Member of Parliament.
- Review the Management Information System 
m. Review the implementation of Automated Monitoring System
- Convergence with Rastriya Bal SwasthyaKaryakram for health check-up, supplementation of micronutrients under WIFS & deworming medicine under National deworming day and health check-ups and supply of spectacles to children suffering from refractive errors.
- Operationalization of Mid-Day Meal Rules, 2015
- Dissemination of Food Safety Guidelines up to District, Block and School
- Enrolment of children and Cook-cum-Helpers under Aadhaar
- Payment of Honorarium to Cook-cum-Helpers
- System of Storage food grains and other ingredients
- Role of Teachers in Scheme
- Tasting of Meal by Teacher, Parents and Community.
- Testing of meals
w. Involvement of Community
- Bank Account of Cook-cum-helpers
- Awareness of the Scheme
- Contingency Plan
Nutritional aspects:
- To assess the anthropometric measurements of a sample of children availing meal
- Height ii. Weight iii. Mid arm Circumference
- To Calculate the Body Mass Index  on the basis of measurement of height and weight.
- To identify the children who are undernourished and over nourished.
- To review the quality and quantity of the served Meal.
- To review the satisfaction of the children parents and community on the served meal under PM POSHAN in respect of quality and quantity.
- To suggest some nutritionally balanced region specific recipes.